Monday, April 28, 2014

I am in love with this dress! The fabrics are called Maisie from Anna Griffin. They are so fun and whimsical! This dress is the perfect dress to sew if you are like me and collect fabric in 1/4 or 1/2 yard increments. I rarely go fabric shopping and purchase 3 yards of every fabric I love.

To make this dress you need a peasant dress bodice pattern - or make your own. I like to wait until the patterns are $1 at JoAnn's fabric then I go crazy! Peasant dresses are perfect if you want a fast way to construct a dress - no buttons or zippers or lining - Yippee! Follow the directions on the pattern for the bodice. I used ones print for the bodice and a different print for the sleeves.

Here are the measurements for the skirt. This is for a size 6-8 girls.

Collect 10 fabrics you want for the skirt. Cut them 8.5" x 20" and sew them together like this:
(forgive the photo, it was about 11:30 at night in my mom's kitchen!)

There will be 5 fabrics on the front and 5 on the back. Sew with 1/4" seams and then zig zagged each seam to prevent fraying - time consuming yes. Sew the rectangles together to form a giant circle that will be the skirt. Press seams to one direction. Sew a gathering stitch along the top of the skirt piece and fit it into the bodice matching side seams. Sew along gathering stitch, zig zag, then press.

For the bottom ruffle, cut (4) 3 1/2" x WOF strips. Sew them together end to end, press the seams. Sew a rolled hem on one of the edges. I cheated and used my gathering foot - hoping I would not run out of ruffle - it worked! This saved time because as I didn't have to fit the ruffle into the skirt - I could use the ruffle like trim instead. The ruffle foot is one of my favorites! I had to make a little seam on the side where the 2 ends of the ruffle meet - but it blends in OK. After the ruffle is sewn on, press the ruffle and top stitch.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Cheers! I am so excited to be participating in Riley Blake's Union Jack Blog Hop! I am in love with the fun colors of this Union Jack panel! My friend, Karen, loves all things British: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, the Royal Family, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Fish 'n Chips, Beef Wellington, The Cure & Adele….her husband served a mission in England, AND here is Harper, their adorable baby girl with a trendy British name! Harper is the cutest baby ever and this quilt is for her.

Sew into strip sets of (5) total. I just picked random colors and didn't try and lay out the pattern. Make 3 sets with white beginning and ending and 3 sets with prints beginning and ending as pictured:

Press toward the prints.

Cut the strip sets into 2.5" sub sets:

Make 2 piles: one with the white on the outside and one with the patterned fabric on the outside:

Now comes the fun part - grab and sew! Once again, I didn't try and lay out a pattern, I just grabbed 2 strip sets and sewed together. Make sure the intersections of the seams sandwich together nicely.

Make 9 of these blocks: 5 blocks with patterned corners, 4 blocks with white corners.

Fussy cut one of the Union Jack blocks, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance around the print.

Find a font you like and print it in reverse on one of these Heat n Bond EZ print sheets - you could also use a silhouette, but I am not that advanced!

Cut out the letters and peel off the backing paper. Cut a piece of white fabric 9.25" wide (the width of the Union Jack) x 19.5" Place the letters and iron in place. Straight stitch around each letter twice.

Sew the Union Jack to the white fabric.

Lay out your blocks in this pattern: 2 rows of 3 blocks, then the Union Jack strip, then 1 row of 3 blocks. Square up the white fabric if there is a little excess on the end.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

This is the same lesson we do every year the night before Easter - the children look forward to it every year. Resurrection Eggs
If you haven't had a chance to do this with your family, the night before Easter is a great time. Preparation: you need 12 plastic eggs. Number them 1 through 12. Below I have the number and corresponding items and scriptures. (you could also place a little treat in each one.) Place them inside the eggs. Hide the 12 eggs.

Have the children find the 12 eggs. Open the egg and read each scripture beginning with egg #1. This will take you through the Easter story. There are pictures to go with just about every scripture. Click HERE for the pictures. The scriptures began with Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

Activity
For the past 16 years it is a tradition in our family to make "Resurrection Rolls." I didn't come up with this recipe - it's one of those things that gets passed around. I am still amazed how everyone marvels at how the marshmallow disappears! Click here for instructions.

I hope your family enjoys making these. This is my children's favorite part of Easter. We look forward to making these every year. AND they are super delicious!!!

We also love to dye Easter Eggs. Nothing fancy, nothing I'm going to "pin" - just good old fashioned eggs and dye! It never gets old. This is a good time to talk about the symbols of Easter. Sometimes its hard for children to know what eggs and bunnies have to do with Easter. While you are dying your eggs, you can have a little review:

Easter Bunny

There are many different theories…..Spring celebrates new life as did Jesus' resurrection. Rabbits are one of the many animals born in the spring and they also have lots of offspring during this time of year. The rabbit burrows deep under ground and when he emerges from his burrow, it can represent Jesus leaving the tomb.

Eggs

In many cultures eggs are the symbol of life and Jesus gave everyone Eternal Life through His Atonement and Resurrection. Eggs were died Red in memory of Christ's blood, eggs are rolled symbolic of the stone being rolled from the tomb,

Lamb

This comes from the Jewish Passover where a lamb was sacrificed in each family. Christ became the Passover Lamb for everyone and so the lamb became a symbol for His sacrifice.

New Clothes

This is a symbol of a new beginning.

We are having fun this year with all our cousins and Gramma and Papa here!

Handout:

I love this nest image from the Graphics Fairy. I thought this would be nice to include in our journals and write what the nest and eggs represent.

Journal

Summarize the events that took place and the scriptures you read. Which one stood out to you? How do you feel knowing Jesus died for you and suffered all things for you that you may have eternal life?

Thank you so much for joining me on this 14 day journey. I hope you have been able to do a few of these lessons with your family and find yourself drawing closer to Christ. Life gets pretty crazy, we missed a few days here and there, and we are looking forward to having the lessons for Family Home Evening. Happy Easter and may God Bless :)

Friday, April 18, 2014

Hi! It's Melanie from LDS Handouts. I started my blog so I could share my handouts I was making for Young Women with others. Since then, it has expanded to a whole bunch of different free handouts. I live in Idaho with my awesome husband and 4 children, ages 11, 8, 5, and 2. I'm excited to share another lesson with you!!Jesus Christ, My Savior

Attention activity: Spread the letters around the room and have your family find them and spell out the word Savior. Ask them what a Savior is and why we might need someone to save us. (Handouts are 4x6 inches)

Lesson:
We needed a Savior because Heavenly Father knew that when we came to Earth we would sin. When we sin and don't repent, we cannot live with Heavenly Father again. We needed someone to save us so we can live with Heavenly Father again. Jesus volunteered to be our Savior and come to Earth and teach us, atone for our sins, and be crucified so we can live with Heavenly Father again.

Cut this picture into puzzle pieces. (Picture is 8x10 inches)

On each piece, write a way that Jesus helped save us. These can include:
He went through the Atonement and saved us from our sins.
He was crucified and died to save us from death.
He taught us about the Sacrament.
He was a perfect example.
He taught us to be kind.
He taught us to serve.
He taught us to repent.
He taught us to forgive.

Put the puzzle together and talk about each way Jesus saves us.

Handout:
Print this handout to add to your journal or hang up.

For another fun activity, write your testimonies down and bury in a bag or seal in an envelop and open again next Easter.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Hi! I'm Melanie from LDS Handouts. I'm super excited to take part in the event. I started my blog so I could share my handouts I was making for Young Women with others. Since then, it has expanded to a whole bunch of different free handouts. I live in Idaho with my awesome husband and 4 children, ages 11, 8, 5, and 2.

I picked The Parable of the Sower because I love parables!! I love the way Jesus taught-by using things that were familiar to the people of the time. I have taken this parable and presented it in a way that I would do it for my family. Enjoy!

The Parable of the Sower

Attention Activity: Scripture: Read the Parable of the Sower found in Luke 8: 4-15Lesson: To reinforce the parable and the meanings, play memory with the cards provided. Match the object with the meaning.
Print out these cards and cut them in half (Card size is 4x6)

Activity: Plant seeds together. Talk about what you need to get a seed to grow in good soil. Talk about how we can make that soil good. Elder Faust gave an awesome talk entitled "Of Seeds and Soil" that shares ways we can make our soil good for our seeds to grow. You can tape this handout to each cup.